UPDATE 1-South Korea's LS-Nikko halts copper smelting after fire

* Maintenance had been delayed for fire-hit unit after
another closure
(Adds details from company spokesman)

By Jane Chung

SEOUL, May 23 (Reuters) - LS-Nikko Copper has halted all
smelting operations at its No.1 unit at the direction of the
labor ministry following a fire at a cooling tower.

The fire follows a shutdown of the No.2 unit at the plant in
the southeastern port city of Ulsan earlier this month after a
steam explosion that injured eight workers.

No time had been set for a restart of the No. 1 unit, which
has a capacity of 200,000 tonnes of copper per year, an LS-Nikko
spokesman said. The company was waiting for the result of an
investigation into the brief fire on Thursday.

All smelting operations had been halted and the shutdown
could affect total output of refined metal, he added.

LS-Nikko had delayed scheduled maintenance at the No.1 unit
following the explosion and shutdown of the No.2 unit, which has
a capacity of 290,000 tonnes of per year.